28
participation in nationalist demonstrations (both titular nationalist and loyalist) and
an increase in the number of individuals voicing economic demands.
The shift from nationalist to economic mobilization, I argue, comes from
two different sources. First, the economic difficulties that followed the demise of
state socialism produced incentives for political entrepreneurs to enter the
political arena and to organize demonstrations with economic demands.
Second, nationalist politicians became increasingly unsuccessful in mobilizing
the many with nationalist demands and, as a result, were compelled to either mix
nationalist or loyalist demands with economic demands or to organize events
with purely economic demands.
The economic downturn offered multiple occasions for political
entrepreneurs to organize political demonstrations with economic demands.
Some of these events appear to have been spontaneously organized, such as a
demonstration in Riga in January 1993, where a multi-ethnic crowd of a few
hundred people denounced rate increases for rent and utilities.
13
The high cost
of utilities and the dwindling safety net also led to the creation of multiple
organizations in Latvia that spoke in the name of those hurt by economic reform.
The events staged by these organizations generally found multi-ethnic support.
On October 21, 1993, the All-Latvia Pensioners’ Federation organized a rally of
several thousand people attended by both ethnic Latvians and Russian speakers
that demanded an increase in the size of pensions and their timely payment.
14
13
SM Segodnia (Riga), Jan. 14, 1993, p. 1.
14
Diena (Riga), Oct. 22, 1993, p. 1, noted that both Russian and Latvian pensioners were present
and that placards were in both languages. See also SM Segodnia (Riga), Oct. 22, 1993, pp. 1-2.
Convention